The Hike
by bookwormgirlLH
Summary: A hike seems the perfect way for Pete Brockman to spend some time with his kids, for as they are growing up so fast he is worried that they won't be kids for long. But when an accident leaves the kids in control of the situation, they begin to realise that growing up is not so great after all. Rated T for injury detail and language.
1. Chapter 1: The Hike

"Where are we going now,Dad!?" Seven year old Ben shouted as Pete pulled the car into a parking space.

As Sue was going to a posh hotel for the weekend for her friend's hen do, Pete had decided that this was the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with his three children - but was already regretting it.

"I told you, Ben, we're going to hike to the top of that big hill," Pete pointed to a massive hill, the top of it hidden by fog, way off into the distance. There were several miles of fields and forest between the Brockmans and the hill - which looked more like a mountain.

" Why, we'll all be dead from exhaustion by the time we reach it, let alone climb it." Eleven year old Jake moaned over dramatically.

" I know that this isn't your cup of tea, Jakester-" Jake sighed irritably as Pete used one of his many nicknames for his eldest son. Pete ignored him and continued, "But I think you'll enjoy it - me and my brothers loved hiking up this hill every time we went on holiday - and anyway, it'll do you all good to get some exercise. "

"Can we have a reward if we get to the top?" Ben asked eagerly.

"Yes, Daddy, a reward." Five year old Karen added.

Pete sighed, "Alright, but can we please get a move on?" He was already wound up and they hadn't even started yet, how was he going to cope?

The children continued to moan and bug Pete, but pulled on theirrucksacks on and began to trudge off in the direction of the hill. Pete muttered to himself -"What have you got yourself into, Pete?"- as he locked the car, before hurrying to catch up with he kids, as Jake had Ben in a headlock and Karen was yelling about having just stepped in a cowpat.


	2. Chapter 2: The Tree

"Ben! That's a branch, not a toy - put it down before you hurt someone!" Pete called as Ben swug a rather large branch around like a sword. As if on cue, Ben spun around, waving his 'sword' in the air, and smacked the end of it across Karen's face. Ben dropped the branch like it was burning hot as Karen screamed.

It didn't really hurt and only made a tiny scratch on her forehead, but Karen was only five and, like all five year olds, , made her injury seem a lot worse by the way she howled.

"You IDIOT, Ben!" Pete yelled, picking up Karen and looking closely at the scratch. "What did I tell you! "

Ben ducked his head, " I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"He can't help being an idiot, Dad, he's bored because there's_nothing_ to do here at all." Jake added, scowling down at his phone which, unsurprisingly, had no signal.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Jake, and Ben, being sorry, which I don't think you are anyway, doesn't stop Karen being hurt, does it?"

Ben frowned before picking up his stick and running off. They were right in the middle of the forrest by now, so Ben was quickly swallowed up by the trees and went out of sight.

"Ben!" Pete shouted, before putting down Karen and running after his youngest son, desperate not to lose him like he always managed to. Jake took Karen's hand and they both followed their father.

"Why is Ben so naughty, Jake?" Karen asked her big brother as they jogged after Pete.

Jake thought for a few seconds before responding with, "Bad parenting."

Karen didn't have a chance to reply, for they caught up with Pete, who was shouting up a tree. Looking closer, Jake and Karen realised that Ben was up it.

"Get down NOW Ben, it doesn't look safe up there!"

"I can't, I'm stuck." Ben cried. Pete initionally thought he was lying, but saw the fear written on Ben's face and realised that the boy was telling the truth.

Pete sighed. " Ok Ben, stay there and I'll come and get you."

With extreme difficulty, Pete wedged his feet into grooves in the trunk and managed to haul himself up the tree. When he finally became level with the branch Ben was clinging to, Pete was drenched in sweat and had ripped his new coat from Trespass.

"Ben, listen to me, can you edge your way along the branch to get to me, its not too far?" Pete asked reasurringly.

Ben shook his head. "Okay then, I'll have to come to you." Pete began to crawl along the branch, which creaked loudly under his weight .

"Careful, Dad." Jake called anxiously, and Karen squeezed his hand tightly.

Moving slowly but steadily, Pete managed to reach Ben, who was clinging to the branch like he couldn't let go. Ben let go of the branch and grabbed hold of Pete instead. "It's alright, Ben, I've got you." Pete said softly, rubbing his son's back.

The branch creaked again and suddenly snapped. Pete just had time to throw Ben towards Jake as he fell before he smacked hard into the ground, the heavy branch landing on top of him with a sickening crunch. Pete was knocked unconcious, whilst the kids screamed in terror - what were they going to do?


	3. Chapter 3: The Fall

"Daddy!" Karen screamed, trying to rush towards Pete.

. Jake, who had been knocked into a bush as Ben fell on him - resulting in many cuts and bruises all over their skin - grabbed the back of her coat to stop her, "Don't touch him, Karen!" He cried, terrified that she might, unwittingly, make their father's injuries worse. Jake was shivering with fear but knew that he was in charge, so he wracked his brains to try and remember any first aid knowledge that he could use to help Pete. Something came to him, allowing the smalest wave of relief to flow through his body, for he knew that wasn't completely helpless.

"We need to keep Dad's head and neck still incase he's hurt his back." Jake explained, looking reassuringly at Karen, who was sobbing, and Ben, who looked petrified. "Okay, Karen, I need you to be a big brave girl and hold Daddy's head steady for me. Can you do that?" He asked gently.

Karen nodded and crouched down next to Pete's head, gripping it the way Jake told her to, being surprisingly careful for such a young child.

"And I need you, Ben to be really strong so we can lift the branch off of Dad."

"Okay." Ben replied shakily. The two boys managed to lift up the heavy branch, their faces contorting with effort, before dropping it beside the still unconscious Pete.

Now they could see the full extent of Pete's injuries, and the three children gasped in horror. There was a deep, bloody gash below his eye; the whole right hand side of his face was already black with bruises; the uneven shape of his chest showed that his collarbone was broken; his clothes were ripped, and many of the tears revealed further cuts; the fingers on his right hand were twisted out of shape, clearly dislocated; and his left legs was facing upwards, but the foot was turned 90 degrees to the left, looking hideously fractured. But worst of all, Karen noticed that there was an expanding pool of blood around Pete's head, a sign that the back of his scalp was badly cut.

"What are we going to do, Jake?" Ben asked, barely able to look at Pete, despite the fact that he was the child who loved gore the most.

Jake closed his eyes, trying to think. He knew that they couldn't leave Pete, but, as there was no signal there, they would have to go back to the car to phone for an ambulance. He came to a decision, opened his eyes and looked at his scared younger siblings.

"Karen, do you think you can stay here with Dad whilst I take Ben with me to get an ambulance? " He asked.

"Yes - but why, Jake?" Karen added, still holding Pete's head.

"Because I really don't trust him on his own anymore. "

"Fair enough, " Karen replied, sounding much older than five, "I mean, it is his fault that Daddy's hurt, isn't it? "

Ben would usually argue the toss with his little sister, but he realised that she was telling the truth - if he hasn't ran off, Pete wouldn't have fallen out of the tree - so he kept his mouth shut and didn't pull away when Jake took his hand.

As the boys ran off in the direction of the car, Karen spoke to her father as if he could hear her, " It's alright, Daddy," she said firmly, "I've got you."


	4. Chapter 4: The Phone

Jake hurtled through the forest and across fields, dragging Ben behind him by the wrist. He was desperately out of breath, but was determined to get to the car park, terrified of the possibility of his dad dying.

"Slow down, Jake." Ben panted, "I can't breathe."

"We'll be there in a minute, Ben." Jake said, and he wasn't lying - they had been running for almost half an hour, and Jake was sure that they were almost near the car park. Soon enough, they reached the edge of the forest, and they could see the car park on the other side of a field.

Upon reaching the car park, Jake pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialling 999, "Yes, I've got a signal!" He cried.

Ben sank to his knees, gasping for breath, feeling incredibly sick all of a sudden. "I need a wee, Jake." He whispered to his brother, who nodded in response, only half listening, for he was also trying to hear the ambulance dispatcher at the end of a crackling line.

Hurrying into the toilet block, Ben just managed to get his head over the lavatory bowl before throwing up violently. When he had finally stopped vomiting, Ben rested his head on his arms, feeling a rush of guilt flood through him - Dad was seriously hurt, and if he died, Ben knew that it would be his fault. Ben was surprised to find that tears were trickling down his cheeks, but he didn't know if it was because of his guilt or the vomiting. Staggering over to the sink, having to stretch to reach the taps, Ben splashed his face with water, feeling a hideous pain shoot down his arm as he jerked it. He guessed that his fall had broken his arm, but he was so worried about his dad that he didn't care.

As he stumbled out of the toilets, Ben saw that Jake was still on the phone.

"Ten minutes." Jake mouthed, which Ben presumed was the time it was going to take for the ambulance to arrive.

Ben hunched up on he damp concrete, waiting for the ambulance, and desperately hoping that it would arrive in time...

* * *

Ben jumped to his feet as the blue lighted ambulance pulled into the car park. Jake had explained the situation on the phone, so the paramedics just grabbed their equipment and a stretcher, and followed the two boys at a half run.

When the five of them finally reached the clearing, they saw Karen, who was still holding her father's head, look up.

"Hello," The first female paramedic said, crouching down next to Karen, "I'm impressed, you've done a good job of holding your dad's head."

"Jake told me to." Karen said, sounding surprisingly shy.

The paramedic took over from Karen, holding Pete's head steady whilst the male paramedic slipped a neck brace onto him. The other female paramedic looked in concern at Pete's broken leg, and decided to straighten it, making it crunch hideously, before strapping it into a splint.

With extreme caution, the paramedics rolled Pete onto his side, and the male paramedic bandaged a dressing to the gash in Pete's scalp in an attempt to stop the severe bleeding, before they slid him onto a stretcher, strapping his limp body in place. As they stood up, the two female paramedics cried the stretcher and the man took the equipment, Karen whispered "Will he be alright?"

The male paramedic patted her shoulder reassuringly, "He's getting the best care he can, so it is likely that he'll recover."

She didn't look convinced, but took Jake's hand and followed the paramedics back to the ambulance, where the layed Pete down on te bed, letting the children sit on the seats, before driving off, the sirens blaring loudly - but not loudly enough to wake up Pete...


	5. Chapter 5: The Ambulance

Jake sat back against his seat as the ambulance raced along the country lanes, sirens blaring, with Karen on his lap. She was resting her cheek against his chest, looking, at a first glance, asleep, but if you looked closer, you would see her wide, unblinking eyes were focused on Pete, never once looking away from his unconscious body.

Ben was hunched up on the seat opposite Jake's, head over a strange, cardboard bowl, repeatedly vomiting bile into it as he no longer had any food left in his stomach. His arm wa still throbbing unbearably, but he could see the paramedics were too focused on treating Pete to look at him.

All three children were silent, shivering in shock, watching the paramedics treat their seriously injured dad. The male paramedic was driving, leaving the two female paramedics to care for their patient, who - although they weren't planning on telling the kids this - they thought may be dying.

Karen gasped as she saw the paramedics panic slightly at the sight of the ECG's results - Pete's pulse rate was falling dangerously, and she heard them say that they thought it was because his broken collarbone was putting pressure on his windpipe.

One of the paramedics heard Karen gasp, "It's alright, we know what to do," She said reassuringly, and Karen smiled weakly in response. But her smile vanished as soon as she saw what they were doing: they performed an emergency tracheotomy, cutting into Pete's neck and sticking a tube trough the wound and down his trachea. Karen winced, feeling the pain for Pete, and turned away, unable to watch.

"It's okay, Karen, it's not hurting Daddy, and it's just to help him breathe." Jake said soothingly, breaking the children's silence. He suddenly thought of his mum, realising that he hadn't told her about the accident.

"Can I phone my mum? I mean, am I allowed to use my phone in here?" He asked.

The paramedics nodded, too distracted by Pete's slow pulse and now bleeding neck to respond properly.

Pulling his mobile out of his pocket, Jake dialled his mum's number and waited for her to pick up her phone.

"Hello?" Came Sue's voice, a low buzz due to all the background noise, "Is that you, Jake?" She must be at a party, he th?ought.

"Can you move somewhere quieter, Mum, I really need to talk to you, but I can't hear you properly."

Sue picked up on the nerves in her eldest son's voice, and hurried out of the room full of noisy, drunk women all celebrating their friend's engagement, to somewhere quieter, "What's wrong, Jake?"

Jake took a deep, ragged breath, "We're in an ambulance."

"What!?" Sue shouted, terror flooding through her, "What's happened?"

"Try to stay calm, Mum." He said futility, for he could hear Sue hyperventilating, "Dad fell out of a tree and he's unconscious"

Sue cut him off, "Oh, my God, is he alright?" She began to sob.

"He's out cold, he's got a big cut on his head and he's broken lots of bones - but I think he'll be okay." Jake said, trying to reassure his mum, but not knowing whether his statement was actually true or not.

All Jake could hear was Sue crying, "Mum?" He asked uncertainly.

"Sorry, Jake, but I'm just so shocked."

"Don't be sorry, Mum, he'll be alright."

"Which hospital are you going to?" She asked, voice wavering.

One of the paramedics mouthed the answer to Jake as he repeated Sue's question aloud, "Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford - it's about twenty miles away from your hotel, isn't it?"

"Yes, I'm on my way, I'll get a taxi as I can't drive." Her tearful voice was slurred slightly, telling Jake exactly why she couldn't drive. "Are you three okay?"

"We're fine, Mum." He lied, not telling her about Ben's constant vomiting or broken arm (Ben hadn't told him about his arm - but Jake had worked it out by seeing Ben avoiding using his dominant hand.).

"I'll see you soon, darling." She sobbed.

"Bye, Mum." Jake ended the call, looking at his siblings, "Mum's meeting us at the hospital." He explained.

For the rest of the journey, he sat in silence, thinking about what he told his mum, and what was the truth - he'd told her that Dad was going to be fine, but deep down, he was certain that his comatose father was going to die...


	6. Chapter 6: The Waiting Room

The taxi pulled up outside the hospital and, after paying the dare, a tipsy yet distraught Sue hurtled towards the accident and emergency department. She just couldn't believe this was happening, she had been so happy just half an hour ago, but now... _He's out cold, he's got a big cut on his head and he's broken lots of bones... _She kept hearing Jake's words, her heart breaking at the sound of her son trying so hard to stay in control.

Sue ran through the automatic doors into the reception, and spotted her children sitting in the waiting area.

* * *

Jake sat beside Karen, an arm around her quivering shoulders, staring into space. He was just hoping beyond hope that Pete was going to be alright. He jerked out of his daydream at the sight of his mum hurrying towards him, and hugged her tightly as she threw her arms around both of them at once. She immediately stiffened as she realised Ben wasn't with them.

"Where's Ben?" She cried, her anxiety doubling.

Jake, whose eyes were red from crt=ying, looked up at his mum, "He's alright, Mum, we think he's broken his arm-"

"What?" Sue said in disbelief, cutting Jake off.

He was trying so hard to stop himself crying again that his voice wavered as if it was breaking during puberty, "When Dad fell, it was because Ben was stuck up a tree. He could have tried to land more safely, but instead he threw Ben towards me to get him away from the branch, so the branch fell on him instead." He explained.

A tear trickled down Sue's face, "He sacrificed himself to save Ben." She whispered to herself, feeling a tug of pride at being married to such a selfless man, before she remembered exactly what had happened again, and felt like she was going to vomit.

"So luckily for Ben, I, a bush and his arm broke his fall, so he wasn't nearly as hurt as Dad. But, anyway, they've taken him off to be X-rayed and they wouldn't let us come with him." Jake said in a rush, trying to get the words out before he clammed up again.

"And your Dad?" Sue whispered.

"The paramedics wheeled him away to surgery as soon as we got here." He said.

"I'll be right back. " Sue suddenly blurted, hurrying over to the reception desk, "Excuse me, do you know where Peter and Ben Brockman are?" The woman behind the desk saw the anxiety in Sue's eyes, feeling sympathetic, but not wanting to reassure sue in case she got yelled at - she had learned that nervous family members were often unpredictable.

"May I ask, how are you related to them, because we only disclose private information to fami-" The receptionist began.

Sue sighed in exasperation, "Ben's my son and Pete's my husband, what do you bloody think!" Sue snapped, before feeling guilty and muttering "Sorry." apologetically.

The woman raised her eyebrows, used to this sort of reaction, but stayed silent, and typed the names into her computer. She smiled, somewhat reluctantly, at Sue as the results of the search appeared on the screen in front of her. "Ah, yes, Ben Brockman, aged seven, is currently having x-rays of his suspected radius fracture and Peter Brockman, aged forty six, is in surgery at the moment and is predicted to be out in an hour's time. You can't see Peter until he's out of surgery, I'm afraid- "

"No kidding." Sue muttered sarcastically, feeling more and more irritated by the receptionist with every word she let out of her big mouth.

The woman ignored her, continuing as if she hadn't been interrupted, "But you can see Ben - I just wouldn't let his siblings go with him because children under the age of twelve aren't allowed in the hospital alone..."

Sue stood impatiently in front of the desk, letting the receptionist finish her boring ramblings without bothering to listen. When she finally shut up, Sue asked ,"So are you planning on telling me where Ben is, or not?"

The receptionist told Sue the room number, feeling just as irritated with Sue as Sue did with her.

"Thank you for all your help!" Sue said with heavy sarcasm, a fake smile on her face, before going back over to Jake and Karen.

As soon as she thought the woman was out of earshot, she said to her kids, "That bloody woman thinks she's so great - she was looking down her massive nose at me when all I did was ask her where Ben and Pete are?"

Jake chuckled weakly, used to his mother arguing with people behind desks, before asking, "So where are they now?", his brief flash of laughter vanishing as quickly as it arrived.

Sue had managed to forget how scared she felt during her argument with the woman, but as Jake asked her the question, the realisation of how serious their situation was came back to her, and her eyes, once again, filled with tears.

"Dad's still in surgery, but we can see Ben." She explained, picking up Karen and taking Jake's hand, surprised when the eleven year old didn't pull away from her.

They began to walk further into the hospital, but Sue stopped as Karen, who hadn't spoken since arriving at A&E, asked her a question.

"Is Daddy going to die?" She asked, her voice deadly serious, much unlike the upbeat tone she used when asking her usual, pointless questions.

Sue blinked back her tears, unable to speak. _What do I tell her? I can't say he's going to die, it would crush her, but I can't lie and say for definite that he's going to get better,_ she thought. "I don't know, Karen." was all she could say.

They started to walk again, and soon found themselves in the x-ray department, where Sue knew her son was, probably in great pain - which was another reason why her heart was beating so fast, because she couldn't ignore the possibility that Ben wasn't going to recover properly either...


End file.
